The gang is back and this week they're welcoming friend of the show, Kirstin Turnbull back into the Hall. She's here to discuss the bona fides of Fred Armisen and to officially nominate him in the Cast category of the SNL Hall of Fame.
Transcript
Track 2:
[0:37] Duh.
All right. Thank you so much, Double D, Doug Denance.
You are the best, my friend, and it's great to be introduced by you each and every week.
Before you enter this sacred ground, would you please do me a favor and wipe your feet? You don't know where they've been.
Or do you? I don't know. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair, and each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer,and add them to the ballot for your consideration.
Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. That's what we'rehere to do this season.
This, our fourth season.
This is our third episode of our fourth season. We have done a draft where we let you behind the curtains of who we're nominating this season.
And we have nominated Dwayne The Rock Johnson in the host category.
And this week we are following that up with another Grand Slam because this week we are nominating Fred Armisen into the SNL Hall of Fame tumbler.
[1:58] We'll see if he makes it out.
But I have a sneaking suspicion he will. He's a great, great performer. He's odd.
He's funny. He's committed. And he's one of a kind. He's truly one of a kind.
Speaking of one of a kind, nominating him will be our very own friend Kirsten Turnbull.
She is obviously a friend of the hall, a patron of the hall, in fact.
She is a wonderful friend and we're glad to have her back sitting in with Thomas.
But before we go any further, why don't we check in with my friend Matt Ardill in his minutiae minute to learn a little bit more about Mr.
Armisen, some of the oddities of an odd man. So let's do that now.
Track 3:
[2:51] Matt, what's going on? Not much, not much in yourself.
You know, I'm just hanging out here in the minutiae minute corner, just looking for some minutiae.
Well, I've got some for you. All right, who are we talking about today?
Fred Armisen. Oh, nice. Incredible, Fred Armisen, five foot nine, born December 4th, 1966.
[3:17] He comes from a historically wild family.
Grandfather, who he grew up knowing as Masamai Harakuni, a Japanese dancer and choreographer, performed in Nazi Germany, turned out, and he found this out on television on one ofthose genealogy shows, his grandfather was in fact Pak Yong In, a Korean who took on a Japanese persona during the Japanese occupation of Korea and was a spy for the allies in NaziGermany. Oh my God.
So that's a family secret that he didn't even know until he was a part of getting his DNA traced.
Is that that genealogy show on HBO? Yeah, PBS. PBS, PBS, I'm gonna have to go back and watch that because that's like, I mean, Benedict Cumberbatch being descended from a familywho owned slaves, kind of expected that.
Fred Ermeson being the grandson of a spy, that is an interesting piece of trivia that I did not expect.
[4:39] Yeah, now his father, Ferry Dunn, done.
Who went by Fred was born in Germany to his cool spy grandfather and a German Venezuelan woman, Hildegard, who was raised in Venezuela.
[4:59] Now, and my condolences to Fred for this. He went to school with fellow SNL alumni, Jim Brewer. So, yeah.
One of them's cool, and it's not Jim.
[5:18] Sorry, tilting my hand there if Jim ever suggested for the hall.
Now, before he got his start in comedy, he worked as a paperboy at a Taco Bell and as a drummer for punk bands Trenchmouth and post-hardcore bands Spark of Life, as well as in theBlue Blue Man Group at Chicago's Off-Broadway production show.
He is friends with Sheila E, which really brings home his prince impersonation since he discovered Sheila.
And like myself and any sane person, he is afraid of heights.
I mean, if we were meant to be up high, We would never have left trees, so Fred and I are on the same page there.
Outside of his work on SNL, he's directed music videos for performers, including El Perro del Mar, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Howling Hex. He's...
[6:30] A late show band leader. After getting frustrated with the music industry, he actually filmed a self tape auditioning for HBO to do interstitials where he wandered around south bysouthwest, interviewing acts and concertgoers just as a variety of different characters and accents.
So that's how he sort of got his start in comedy.
[6:55] And he is veritably everywhere, appearing in pretty much any project done by former castmates.
His work on Document Free Now. He has his show Portlandia.
He has 189 acting credits, 12 writing credits, 23 soundtrack credits.
And with Horatio Sanz launched a website called Mes Major, which features Latino comedy voices and was one of the people to take part in John Mulaney's intervention, of which Johnremarked, seeing Fred, a serious Fred means you know something is wrong.
Right. So, yeah, he is a great cast member, a terrific friend to all his former cast members. I'm really looking forward to hearing this episode.
Me too. Take it away, Thomas. Thank you.
Track 4:
[8:20] Yes, Jamie and Matt, thank you so much. We're so excited for this episode of the SNL Hall of Fame.
We're right in the midst of season four and this episode is our first cast member that we're going to be nominating for the SNL Hall of Fame and we have a perfect person to nominate thiscast member.
Somebody who I really associate with this era of SNL. We've talked about this era of SNL plenty of times with our guest today.
Our guest right now is a five-timer joining us. Yes, she's waving her hand, celebrating.
[8:59] First five-timer, I believe, in SNL Hall of Fame, history.
You're making history today, Kirsten. Where's my jacket? Well, see, what happened was, just really busy summer.
We've meant all the best for you to get you your Hugh Hefner smoking jacket and embroidered and everything, we just meant all the best and then we just kind of carried on living ourlives and it never happened.
So, can I interest you in some mittens, some five-timer mittens or slippers?
You know what, I'll take the glory. I'll take the bragging rights, actually.
That's very exciting to me.
I'm really thrilled to be the first five-timer. Yes. So thank you.
First five-timer, just a wonderful guest. So you were on with, we talked about Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, you've been on for, who else did you do? John Mulaney? Of course.
So you were our point person for them.
And so on behalf of Paul Rudd and John Mulaney and Steve Martin, welcome to the Five Timers Club.
Thank you, thank you very much. It feels great to be here. I am going to add that to my LinkedIn.
And I'm very proud of reaching that, that pinnacle out of other people.
Somehow I've got this competitive streak coming out. You do.
I know you were like, I can see you like puffed out your chest.
Yeah. Waved your arms. It's a big deal. Yeah.
That was wonderful. Love the excitement here.
[10:27] And today we're talking about someone else who I'm so excited about and who's going to make it into the Hall of Fame.
I'm surprised this person has not already been nominated.
I'm very surprised. Yeah, so we got we're we at the snow hall of fame We like to space out kind of the names and the biggies and you know, it's it's a it's a scientific Process we got analgorithm.
It's really a delicate algorithm going at the snow hall of fame So sometimes we do get asked that like it's interesting that you bring that up because like dana carvey We did we talked abouthim in season three and some people were like, well i'm surprised he's not it was like well The way we pick the nominees, you know, it's more We got our show to do So so it's morecurated like that, but you're right.
This is actually someone who we've been asked about before It's like why haven't you done an episode on them?
So of course, we're talking about Fred Armisen the Fantastic drumroll in his honor if I could right now lovable Fred Armisen, maybe in post-production. I'll add a drumroll.
[11:36] Please He deserves a drum roll. I mean, that's appropriate, right? Exactly.
Yeah, he's a drummer. Maybe I'll get a Fred Armisen, maybe his own drums for a drum roll.
So yeah, so Kirsten, you and I discussed, as I had mentioned, like Bill Hader's rather sturdy Hall of Fame candidacy. And Bill got in pretty easily and is now an SNL Hall of Famer.
So along that line, we're discussing someone else today that goes hand in hand with Bill Hader. Same era, they worked well together on screen.
So what's the first thing that comes to mind about Fred Armisen to you that makes his time at SNL so memorable? Quirky. Deadpan delivery.
He was in 856 sketches at a certain point. The number's probably higher because he does so many cameos.
What an all-around versatile member of the team. I'm saying team because he's also done 21 cameos.
[12:43] Everyone loves him. He brought so much to the show during his season, but keeps getting asked back by all sorts of wonderful people.
So there's some magic there for sure. Yeah, he strikes me as a really great teammate on the show, like really easy to work with on the show.
Very talented people loved him. I think Lauren probably loves him.
And versatile is a great word for it. And I think that's something that I knew intellectually.
And and when I was kind of going back and watching Fred's sketches, his versatility, but I that word didn't come up until you said that, but that was so well put. I definitely agree. Veryversatile performer.
Yeah, actor, comedian, musician, writer, and brought a lot of the musicianship to the show, whether it's musical instruments or, you know, impersonating famous musicians, or just creatinghumorous songs, that really added an extra layer, was an extra tool in his toolkit that not everyone has.
Yeah, and Fred's interesting to me because just his path to SNL is so interesting.
[13:49] He was in bands, he was in a band for a while as a drummer, right, like before, gosh, probably a decade before he even got into acting and comedy.
So he did, he was a musician. And then it almost seems like just kind of, maybe not out of the blue, but he just sort of decided one day, like, I actually kind of want to do acting. Let's seehow I can do.
But I'm gonna still integrate my musicianship into it.
Worked out well for him, didn't it? Yeah, definitely. So he like kind of decided, you know, I want to pursue this acting thing. And before you know it, he's on the biggest sketch comedyshow in the world.
And knowing Fred, knowing what we know about Fred, that's kind of not surprising, right?
And during a really epic era of the show as well, the company he kept was legendary.
[14:35] Yeah, he was in a great era, 11 seasons for Fred.
He started in 2002, his last season he ended in 2013. So just a great era of SNL. He performed with so many legends. He's a legend himself, but he performed with so many legends.
Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson, we could go on and on.
He was in, even when he started, it was Rachel Dratch was still in the cast and Chris Parnell and those people. So Fred's just worked with so many of the greats.
So I guess we can get started here. Let's do a little volleying.
So I'm curious, Kirsten, what maybe sketch or character of Fred's would you like to bring up first here?
[15:23] I have so many. I think, oh, do we go right there? Ooh, that's a tough one.
I'm intrigued. I'm like, I know, you know what?
I'll, I'll, I'll think out loud here. My immediate thought was, let's dive right into Ian Rubbish because we're talking about music.
And then I thought, wow, that's, that's coming in real strong, but why not?
I suppose, right? Why not? And that's actually toward the end, which is probably fine.
But yeah, Yeah like that's that's that you're getting we're getting seasoned veteran SNL Fred there with Ian Rubbish.
It was the the History of Punk sketch Ian Rubbish and the Bizarro so so yeah what like sticks out why do you want to start there?
Wonderful sketch. It it really ties into what you're just talking about him being able to bring you know his love of music and character study and impersonation or character building Iguess because he's impersonating probably like an amalgamate of like rock stars, I'll call them, doing some fun accent work.
And he's working with his bestie, Bill Hader.
So it really was all of the boxes checked for him in terms of probably dream sketch and dream character to play.
And it also launched things like Documentary Now. Like it really was a pivotal moment for him.
[16:43] And at that point in his SNL career he probably felt very comfortable pitching that and it getting accepted to be on the show, featured on the show, because they knew he'd be ableto pull that one off in the way that balanced his.
[17:00] Character but still realism. He felt real, I mean that's that was the whole fun of it is this documentary now became the mockumentary because it felt like such a real character.
And what are your feelings on Miss Thatcher? Uh, I like her.
A really sweet face, willing to make the hard choices, uh, I respect that.
I think she's a d**k. Oh wait, it's the Prime Minister you're talking about.
Be decent. I'd date Doug for her. Oh yeah? Yeah. Right? Then move, leave, have another country take you in. Oh, they won't do it. You know why?
Because you're a parasite that sucks off the... That's no answer, come on. Take it easy.
No. No, I take it easy, we'll put this country into the decline of this soapbox.
It was in Fred's voice and Bill's voice, but a lot of this was in Fred's voice because I think he loves doing the thing where he defies expectations.
[17:54] Like, that's part of the joke is I'm going to defy expectations.
And it was a great concept here with Ian Rubbish actually being a supporter of Margaret Thatcher. Yes.
Margaret Thatcher, of course, a very conservative prime minister around that time in England, and being a punk like Ian Rubbish was supposed to be, you would think that he would beagainst, but he just lays it on thick about his support for Margaret Thatcher, Maggie.
Very authentically and wrote legitimately good songs.
Here's classic Ian, you know, I thought he was back, you know, but then I listen to the B-side.
[19:01] Very fun, very fun. And I do love, I mean, let's not forget, you know, Bill Hader and Taron Kalam and the others that kind of filled out that, the band and all those interviews, therealism of it.
I mean, it was phenomenally well done. And I think it was only a couple times that that character came on and I could have seen them exploiting that a lot more if he stayed on the showlonger.
Yeah, I wouldn't have been opposed to it.
He did it in season 38 I would have loved if if this would have happened sooner and maybe maybe they could have done another installment I know, you know SNL there can sometimesbe diminishing returns.
So be careful what you wish for But I think this is just a great character And yeah, you mentioned his bandmates and it was so great with their they looked at the camera And I thinkthey're saying like well We thought we thought Ian was just being like ironic or whatever when he was talking good about Margaret Thatcher But he was like genuine about this.
It's just I love it is totally in Fred's voice Yeah, the most punk rock thing ever is to actually like Maggie.
Yeah, exactly strange And I guess if you think about it, that's like, I mean, I can understand there's actually might be real logic.
[20:11] So it is kind of punk rock, right? That's right. Yeah, punk rock.
Doing, you know, whatever you think they're not going to do, they're just going to rage against the machine. And in this case, he took us somewhere we didn't expect to go, thatunpredictability.
That's a great one. You had mentioned probably a precursor to Documentary Now, which is one of the major projects that Fred did after his SNL tenure was over.
I think that's a great first example of what makes Fred, Fred on SNL, definitely.
And I want to go back to another musician, you had alluded to it, but I'm going to go back to more toward the beginning of his SNL tenure and talk about Prince.
[20:59] So here's something that, you know, Fred, I think, so well captured the eccentric spirit of Prince in this impression.
And did it sound like Prince? Like a little bit. Like, you know, mannerisms, it kind of did sound like Prince.
But just the dialogue and the goofy things that he would say and do, like he captured Prince, or at least a lot of the stories that we heard of Prince. Welcome to my show.
My spidey senses are tingling. Please welcome from the new Spider-Man movie, Tobey Maguire.
[21:40] Now Tobey, I put this question to you. Have you ever spun a web so complex that you became entangled in the very web you wove?
Yeah, that's gotta be a really fine balance to strike because he doesn't want to turn him into the joke because they all loved Prince.
[21:57] Like, my Rudolph has a tribute band to promote.
So they loved him and they wanted to honor that love to him, but still play into some of those odd things that he does.
And he's a bit of a mystery too. I mean, I don't know that we've seen, like, does Prince always dress like that? Or did he? Were his pajamas purple satin?
Or did he just put on flannel pajamas and then he wasn't Prince?
I have no idea. So there is a lot of mystery around him. And they played into that with the whispers and the kind of very strange requests, Go sit on that cupcake. Go sit on that banana.
Robert, Prince wants you to sit on that snowmobile and look like you're having a good time.
Why the hell not?
And also, when you get up there, make some snowmobile noises.
You know, like vroom, vroom.
Yeah, well, what else would I do? I'm on a snowmobile. Vroom, vroom.
It was just weird and funny, and it played with your imagination that we have of, I don't know, maybe Prince does that.
I believe it. Who knows? It's fun. But it wasn't offensive, and it didn't make fun of him.
It just had fun with his reputation or the perception we have of him.
Yeah, like the exaggerated idea of Prince. The way he and Maya played off of each other when she was Beyonce, his co-host.
The whole aesthetic, like the theme song and the graphics, like it looked totally like 80s just out of Purple Rain.
[23:19] They captured it. I totally love this. And Prince himself, from a lot of what I read, especially a lot of things came out after he passed away a few years ago, he was funny.
He had a really good sense of humor, Prince did it seem like.
We never would have seen that.
That's not a side of himself that he exposed publicly, which is a shame.
So all we got was what other people portrayed or what was said about him.
So It's fun that they gave him they leaned into that kind of mystery.
Yeah and quirkiness yeah, exactly like when I when I heard stories after prince passed away about how he He was that he played ping-pong against michael jackson because they werethey were both at the same like recording studio And there had been a ping-pong table set up and so he challenged michael jackson to a ping-pong game And so they were playing againsteach other and then prince was kind of playing aggressively he slammed it on michael jackson and michael kind of like like kind of cowered away or whatever.
And then they said that Prince was like celebrating like a rooster.
He was kind of like walking around, like celebrating like he was the victorious one.
And I don't know, just, I wish, yeah, I wish we would have seen more of the Prince that maybe like Fred portrayed or I think, but Fred just captured that spirit and that image of Prince. Bythe way, that sounds like a Dave Chappelle sketch.
It really does, right? Yeah, yeah.
[24:43] And from what I know too, Prince did play basketball.
He loved basketball and I think he would play basketball and make pancakes and stuff at his house.
So I think a lot of that actually comes from the truth. That's amazing.
I think overall, one of my favorite things about Fred Armisen and what he brings is this very subtle observational humor, right?
It's the mannerisms and the very subtle ways of interacting with the world that he recognizes in people and can embody and bring to life.
Even just the very kind of little smirk that he would make as Prince.
It was so subtle. It was so little. He would just move his face just a little bit and yeah, that's what I'm picturing. So it's not over the top and I'm not disparaging Kenan because I loveKenan.
Like his characters are definitely louder and boisterous and and there are some very really subtle things that Fred would do that would bring people to life.
Yeah you're right there's a way that Fred you could tell he studied just how people's what people's eyes did when they, acted or felt a certain way. I actually have a good example of that.
It was one of his Weekend Update characters. It was the deaf comic, Richie B. Yes. Yes. Yeah.
[26:02] And I work, I'll say this, I work in the deaf and hard of hearing community for my full-time job.
So watching him as this deaf comic, one of the first things that I noticed was, well, one, he's actually using sign language. Right. Which I appreciate.
He's not just doing gibberish, he's using sign language. It looked natural.
It looked like he'd been doing it for a very long time.
And that's because I get the, I don't know, just watching him sign and stuff, it seemed like he had been doing it for a long time or maybe he has somebody in his family who's deaf in signsor something, but he looked like a lot of signers that I've come across and interacted with and even the mannerisms of like his face when he would sign, the way the way he would mouththings, the way he would kind of voice when he was signing, like he did a really good job.
Like his mannerisms and how he was signing was like pretty darn spot on, honestly.
And I don't know if people who don't work in the deaf and hard of hearing community or aren't deaf and hard of hearing would notice something like that, but I know I appreciate it.
Evidently you noticed that too. Yeah, and I think of what it could have been in lesser hands and that's when you appreciate it more. Yeah, it seemed so natural, like if I was learning it, Iwould be slower, that's for sure.
[27:26] So, yes, that was a great sketch and I really enjoyed that.
We haven't seen a lot of that, we haven't seen a lot of that.
And I think it's, you know, it's a delicate subject for people to take on, but it was well done, I think. I think it could have been offensive in lesser hand, I think. I think Fred.
That he was seemed so proficient at it. And you could tell maybe he studied how deaf people communicate with each other and with the world, that it felt like he was doing that out oflove.
And that's what I got out of it. And I'm fairly sensitive to things about deaf culture.
And when I see things portrayed about deaf culture out in the world, I'm kind of sensitive as to like, how are they portraying that?
Or where's that coming from? But with Fred's portrayal here is Richie B, I get the sense it really does come out of love, for sure.
And the premise is great. Like, just exploring the comedy of it all, like, it's basically Richie B telling racist jokes while his interpreter, played by Kenan, is sitting there having to interpretfor him, and Richie B's like this racist comic, and Kenan's like, no man, I'm not gonna say that. Oh, what else?
[28:40] Did you hear that Chanel just came out with a new fragrance for black people?
[29:00] What a minute? Hey. No way. I'm not saying that. That's terrible.
I think the premise in and of itself, it's done at a high level.
That's terrible. So I think the premise in and of itself, like it's done out of love, but the actual premise is really clever. Yes. Do you know what else I think he does really well and out oflove, I like that term, is portray women.
There are, some of my favorite characters of his are when he's dressed as a woman.
And I don't know, I'm not trying to pick on Kenan, he's just coming to mind.
But Kenan, Horatio, Sandler.
[29:40] Sandberg, when they've all dressed as women, it's a caricature.
And when he dresses as a woman, he is every bit that, you know, a Linda Nade or whomever he's dressed as, even the Queen, which is stretching it a bit.
But he, I'll put it this way, he is probably the one person who I think could fit right on the kids in the hall.
Well, I could see that. Because they all did that incredibly well also, where they did it out of their love for character and male or female didn't really make a difference, but when they werein female character, they weren't in drag the way where it's an over-exaggerated version of it.
It was like, no, she, you know, Linda Nade had this great crocodile purse and she had Chapstick in it and she had a nice blouse on and she had her hair done and it wasn't just stuff yourshirt and put on a bunch of pink lipstick.
Like there was a lot of dedication there to that character and making them real.
It happened to be a woman, but it never felt like, I don't wanna say drag, I don't wanna say that in a negative way, because I love drag, but it didn't ever feel like he was being silly about it.
He was doing it with a lot of respect. It was less, it wasn't cartoonish.
[31:01] That's right, that's right. Yeah, that's such a good comparison with the kids in the hall.
It got to the point with the kids in the hall where I think a lot of Kids in the Hall fans even had conversations about like, which one's like the hottest woman out of the four?
Like which one makes the cutest woman out of the four?
As you can tell, they took time to like use the eye shadow and the makeup and the mannerisms.
And you're so right. They were developed characters. They weren't just like, oh honey, like there's a really shallow way you can approach a man acting like a woman and go for all thestereotypical stuff. But no, there was real depth to those characters.
And I love a Linda Nade. Yeah, yeah.
[31:38] Court stenographer. Oh, yes. Right? My lipstick, can't find my lipstick, or chapstick, can't find my chapstick, who takes the worst court notes possible on the old typewriter.
[31:52] One of my favorites. And then, you know, can't record things properly, but if you haven't seen that one in a while to anyone who's listening, please go look that one up.
It was a character that came on in 2010, two different sketches, but some great lines.
I can't find my crackers and I need a giggle break and really great lines in that one. He also did like Regine, who's kind of like, I guess if you're amongst some SNL fans, a little, um...
Either love Regine or don't. Where are you in that camp?
Um, I think as far as Fred's characters and sketches go, I'm lesser on Regine than his other ones, but I can tell it seems like he knows somebody who's just like that.
Ooh. I don't know, like it comes from somebody who's real.
It seems like, and then that confirmed it when he started doing Portlandia and started doing more characters of maybe that ilk or that realm.
I'm like, oh, he- Those different archetypes, yeah. Yeah, different archetypes, but I think he knows somebody like that. Which is hilarious.
I'm a fan of Regine. It got silly where it was breaking other people and that was kind of fun.
I think they all got a kick out of it. I always laughed, because it was absurd.
I love the one with Christoph Waltz the best.
[33:13] But yeah, Regine was funny and silly, and I'm a fan.
What I've noticed, since we've been talking about this, I'm going through what I went back and watched with Fred and what I remember.
And he's not afraid to delve into edgy comedy, but he's not mean about it.
Like he can be edgy, but not mean.
And that's something that I appreciate. And I think a lot of comics, especially when Fred came up in 2002, I don't know if you remember 20 years ago how like the edgelord comedystarted coming up and it was like, it was funny to just call someone gay.
Like that was the joke in and of itself and all of that. So it was very just mean-spirited in a lot of ways.
[33:59] And Fred wasn't that way. Like there was, there was some, there was like a lot of kindness.
When he was performing. Or just humor. You know what it makes me think of is Riley.
It's a Sigourney Weaver episode and it was get ready for Riley.
There was a jingle and it had to have been written by John Mulaney.
And it's where Riley is the character, is the friend of another teenage boy and he's having dinner at this teenage boy's house. And he keeps saying, you bitch!
You bitch! So did you two have a good day at school today? Oh, it was terrible. Well, for starters, I missed the school bus and I had to haul my ass down nine blocks. I mean, can youpicture it? Me hoofing it in these galoshes like yesterday's bitch.
[34:44] Hey, Riley, you know, I'm not sure how you talk in your family, buddy, but we kind of don't use that language in this house.
Oh, well, pardon me, Rhonda Rulebook, but I'm me. This is who I am.
I'm bald, I'm brash, and you better believe it. And he's saying this to the parents and it's, But it on paper would sound mean, but it's hilarious.
[35:05] This Riley character who sounds like, you know, drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes.
Check that one out if you need to refresh your memory too. There's some one-offs that were just so absurd.
That's one of them. It's almost like that Riley, yeah, that Riley character, it almost sounds like it's just a character that exhibits behaviors that were learned somewhere.
Yes. So it's not coming from a malicious place from Riley, the character, because you get the sense that it was learned.
Yeah. It's beyond their control because they're just mimicking.
That's right. How about all the digital shorts? OK. Yeah, I have I have at least one digital short.
To me is just a wonderful encapsulation of Fred, but I want to hear about...
I've got three and I think we're going to share one of them for sure. Okay.
[35:58] So the light bite one, pardon the fun, is cookies.
This was in 2008, Hugh Laurie, and there's a very serious business meeting happening.
There's a company is going through some tough times and they're not going to get their bonus, what have you, and And there's a plate of cookies on the middle of the table and Fred playsjust one of the employees and he can't stop grabbing the cookies and, you know, someone should arrest this cookie company for cookie side.
You know, a lot of ASMR of him just chomping on the cookies, I'm bad, like so silly, but we've all seen that person. Again, just who's that person in the meeting?
In the end, it turns out that they were laxative cookies, ha ha, funny, funny. So that's one that I enjoyed.
The next one is the anger one.
[36:50] So anger problem. This is 2006. This is a fast food restaurant team.
And he is the manager, and he cannot control himself.
We all like to work here. We just can't function when you communicate with us like this.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. OK. That's interesting.
Because I was thinking maybe a little bit more like, Brad, Seven seconds, I'm grabbing you by the collar. Your face is in the deep fryer.
What? Pete, two seconds, I pull out your eyes and they're going in the garbage.
Why? Jordan, 20 seconds, I'm over there. I'm gonna rip out your jaw. 20 seconds.
Tia, half second, my ass is in your mouth.
20 more than a half second and you're all gone. This is beyond a threat.
It's a promise. Drew, what's going on with you, man? I don't know.
I have a problem, I don't know how to control it. You guys are my only friends. I'm sorry.
[37:40] Like, this is him. It coming from Fred, especially. It's not like it's coming from some...
I don't know. I guess alpha male is a weird. Right? No. Yeah, exactly.
I'm saying like, yeah, from somebody who, who I think might be able to play mean, like, that's right.
That's right. That's the contrast. But I think the one you're going to talk about is that the tangent, the tangent. Yes.
[38:06] Please tell me your love for it. So I'm just gonna nod. By the way, I do love that the anger one. Yeah. And I and Fred shows like some pretty good acting chops with like he kind ofhas a breakdown at the end and cries and all of that so that that's a really good one.
The Tangent which was a digital short season 31 and it's basically Fred playing probably a heightened version of himself in a lot of ways so he's talking to one of his friends what are theymaking lunch plans or doing something so he starts getting into this story about some restaurant and so basically it's Fred just going off on a tangent.
Arrives Bill Hader. ...be it any kind of cereals that have sugars on them, that's an obvious thing to do. Jerry, it's me. Listen, I'm on the street.
He's exactly what we're looking for. No, here. I'll put you on with him.
Listen, listen. ...cover up the entire thing.
Passports have to change every four years. No matter what. Homemade tennis racket.
And this way, if I had my own band-aids, my own bandages, at least I could hide them underneath the seat so that no one could find them because they're kind of my band-aids. Let's seehow he does in front of an audience.
There's no way. said to me she was terrified because she didn't think there was a driver on a rollercoaster.
[39:15] Fact that kind of makes you a professional camper.
It's sweet, it's hot, it's cold, it's everything more than one.
[39:29] They don't have the jurisdiction to even define what a monsoon is.
So while Fred's on this tangent.
[39:37] He becomes famous, he's on the cover of magazines, he has his own show, So he experienced his fame and then he...
That 15 minutes is up and then he becomes not famous and then they've just kind of set him back on the street corner on the sidewalk where he was when the tangent started and Fred'sjust I don't just he has the gift of gab, but it's like measured He just doesn't seem like he doesn't talk just to talk.
He said he speaks in a measured very measured way uh, and this was just like I couldn't see anybody else doing this but fred It's all I wrote was amazing.
I love that. I Watched again and the fact that he had no reaction to Scarlett Johansson, too. It was kind of funny.
Yeah The you know Conan and and total recal live earth.
I think it was with Carson Daly like all these places they put him Yeah, it was just he was just in this motion of just repeating this story.
It was amazing. It was amazing rambling nonsense Yeah, and we know yeah, we know people like that.
So once you get him going It's just like they monologue on you for 45 minutes to an hour and yeah, we know that person.
And obviously Fred knows that person. He might be that person sometimes.
Well, and I think that it could have inspired the character Nicholas Vane.
Oh, I read this on the way to work here. I rode my bicycle up.
[41:02] Protesters return in Tehran. This is exactly, the reason it's outrageous is that no one, any mere assumption that we as a mass are going to come together to, I wouldn't, I think once ifwe were to examine the motorcycle industry in the Midwest, the first thing people would, the reminder, the one alarm clock when it comes to say the Inuits, the way they treat the sick andelderly, they're They're not, I wouldn't assume, I wouldn't even guess at how many times, I would, if one were to design a uniform for tour guides. Okay, I'm sorry.
This often happens when you come on. I'm starting to get concerned that you don't actually have anything to say.
You get on this idea that how much can you talk and say nothing at the same time?
And then Nicholas Fane comes along and impeccably delivers multiple words, but says absolutely zero and make zero sense.
But sounds at first smart doing it. You think, okay, this is an articulate person.
Hold on. These are just words strung together. Yeah. Was that his weekend update?
Yes. Character where he would just kind of like have a digression.
So he would say a lot and say nothing at all. Exactly. Read a headline and then just ramble forever.
[42:25] So again, playing into that idea of like, we all know this person.
Let me turn this up to an 11 and see where it goes.
Really good about studying people like you brought that up at the top of the show and it's just so true like he's he's such a good observer of his fellow humans.
And it really comes through in his comedy. Yep. In fact, if I think of the characters that he has played or created that are kind of nothing burgers really, right?
But he's finding all of these very subtle either mannerisms or accents or quirks or things that make these characters who they are, but they're, you know, are they remarkable?
Not necessarily. But the tangent would be one of them, right?
The Californians is another, just a guy, we'll get into that.
Nicholas Fane, best friend from growing up.
Both of those, where again, just the very quiet ways that he's acting and delivering lines comedically.
[43:30] Who else is in there? Oh, Wizard of Oz, when he plays the weather vane. So funny.
Parent Trap, when he plays in the camp cabin scene with Jenna Ortega, he showed up for a cameo of that.
Like, again, these are not people that you would remember, but he's creating so much out of these smaller moments and, I'm using air quotes, basic character descriptions.
Yeah, yeah. I'm interested in what you think about his part in the Californians, because for me, a time where, and there's another example of this, where Fred kind of stood out amongst thepack in a very famous sketch, and I thought maybe he was the best part of the Californians, but I don't know how you felt about him and that whole dynamic.
I think so too. I think Kristen Wiig nailed that funny way of talking, but she would crack up.
And Bill Hader also, but he would crack up. But Fred was the most consistent and wore that stupid wig, the glasses on his head.
He is the most memorable. Man, my whole family's coming in from Simi Valley.
[44:36] They're gonna take the 118 West to the 23 South all the way to the Tierra Ojada road exit. Then they'll be here. But Fred just seemed like the most committed and kind of in thescene. Yeah. And he knew it was ridiculous.
It's a ridiculous premise. And it's rooted in something true if you've ever met people from Southern California and they'll admit to you that it's rooted in something true.
But Fred was just so committed in the Californian sketch and he was kind of the rock that held it together.
Because if you had every single person breaking, there would be no like glue or just something just holding it. That is just a Jimmy Horatio sketch? Yeah, right. You.
[45:17] Exactly, yeah. And I think another one that he stood out for similar reasons is the first Debbie Downer sketch.
Oh gosh, is that the Lindsay Lohan one? The Lindsay Lohan one.
And of course it had Horatio who just couldn't keep it together.
And for good reason. I mean, I can't keep it together.
I still watch that sketch and can't keep it together. There was of course Jimmy Fallon who couldn't keep it together in that sketch.
So Rachel Dratch, of course. And you could tell Fred, If you watch Fred, go back and watch that sketch and just watch Fred.
He even kind of looks at Lindsay Lohan and almost nudges her like, hey, it's your line. You know, amidst all this chaos, you could see Fred looking at everybody like, all right guys, wegot a scene to do. Get it together.
[46:01] Yeah, get it together. Even though Fred, I mean, he did break every now and then, but in that Debbie Downer sketch, he was the one who was trying to keep it together. And I justlove watching him watch his castmates during that sketch.
People are yelling at us right now because they're like, you don't remember Garth and Kat on Weekend Update?
Like, okay, that's an exception and that was part of the game of it.
Like with Garth and Kat, with he and Kristen doing their thing.
They did it nine times on Weekend Update. Yeah. So I liked Garth and Kat. How about you?
I do. I appreciate the game of what they're doing.
Like I can see how some don't like it, but I appreciate what they're trying to do.
And since you know that it's Fred who's ad-libbing and it's Kristen trying to keep up, I appreciate that fun game.
Even if it's like unintelligible nonsense at a certain point, I just like watching them have fun with each other and play with each other. So yeah, how do you feel?
You said you like that. I think watching them play the game is a really good way to describe it. And it's probably beloved by super fans of the show, hello, and or like people thatappreciate improv and just, you know, in the moment.
[47:19] What could happen if we do this? And how do they challenge themselves to find humor sometimes in what they're doing when you've dissected it to death and rehearsed it and etc.
So that one felt very real and wild, because some of it probably was very much improved if they're just making up jibber jabber.
I liked seeing such funny people crack up at times.
That was a time when I was waiting for them to crack up, much like Stefan, you're waiting for it to happen.
And I don't mind, I think maybe I'm way more forgiving as far as things like that. Like with Jimmy Fallon, it kind of got annoying. With Horatio Sanz, it got annoying at a certain point. Iagree. But something about that was different. I agree.
When Fred would do it and when they did Garth and Kat, something about that definitely felt different. And you're right, they were playing an improv game and you were kind of joiningthem for this improv game.
One nitpick that I would have is I wish Fred would have done more coherent songs to have Kristen try to keep up with.
And I think he quickly defaulted to like weird voices and weird speech patterns and stuff.
But I would have liked to see him try to drag out like a coherent melody that Kristen maybe had to follow along with the words, I don't know.
But that's, I mean, that's me nitpicking professionals at SNL, you know? Right, right. You're like, live television, make this up, got it.
Exactly, yeah. Like, trot me out there and see what I'm gonna do. Right, right.
[48:44] There's also been an entire group of characters he does where he is playing into either being, you know, Italian or Mexican or of Latin heritage, like Ferrocito and the Manuel Ortizshow.
Yes, some of these were so fun, like the first recurring character of his actually was Ferrocito, that I'm just kidding.
That was a hoot. Yeah, big boy!
[49:22] Did you hear about these baseball guys? Barry Bonds admitted to using steroids.
Hey Barry, next time you get roid rage, do what I do. Use preparation H.
[49:39] So growing up in the southwestern United States, Kirsten, I used to watch Univision.
Like I used to watch Spanish television growing up, and it was just this Fedecito character was like a really nice parody of a personality on Univision.
[49:56] I think that Fedecito character was like a really nice parody.
I could tell Fred watched a lot of like Spanish language television growing up.
I think there was even a guy who would like say a punchline and have like a mannerisms and sayings like Fedecito did.
Like, adios mio, and then he would put his chin on his knuckles, or his fist, yeah, that was, I love that, and it's funny that you say that, because I actually did group those characters,because I thought Fred brought a Latino sensibility to the show, that me as a Latino SNL fan, growing up, I didn't really see a lot, honestly.
I would see Phil Hartman playing a Latino dad, or whatever on the show.
That's just kind of what.
So when somebody like, to a certain extent, Horatio Sanz brought that a little bit when he started.
But I think- But it's more Melissa Villasenor and- Yeah, it's like current, nowadays, like Melissa Villasenor, Marcelo Hernandez. Yep, yep.
It's really great to see him. But Fred, to me, was like, opened up more of the floodgates.
And not, they weren't even like big floodgates. But like, Fred just made that, he did more of that than I think anybody else. Yeah, he brought that representation to the screen.
Yeah, his mom was Venezuelan, and so he had like a Latino background.
So you mentioned Ferecito.
[51:21] He had the Besos y Lagrimas show, the heightened soap opera.
They would do Kisses and Tears, Besos y Lagrimas.
They would have the La Policia Mexicana. Yes. And maybe the stupidest, Kirsten, the dumbest thing in that era of SNL that I got a kick out of was the Manuel Ortiz show. Oh yeah.
And that's like a guilty pleasure of mine. It's so dumb.
I know it's dumb, but whenever a guest comes on they do the dancing to the song.
[52:08] I get a kick out of it, what can I say? I agree, that was an entire genre of characters that I really enjoyed seeing him play, you know, hosting these kind of variety shows and morebeing in these very melodramatic television shows and commanding the stage and like owning these characters, again, in a lovable way, right?
Like these are, you know, I could recognize in his character a composite of people who've done this and he celebrated them in a nice way.
I'll tell you which character I got a real kick out of that was not, I don't think realistic, was Queen Elizabeth.
Where we now see a little bit of Ian Rubbish in the Queen.
You know, really kind of punk, got this cockney accent and trash-talking people, very full of decorum and then as soon as the door closes.
[53:32] Let's it rip. brilliant and exciting. Shut up. What? I said shut your mouth.
When that first happened, again working with Bill Hader as the king.
King? I don't even, I should know. I'm Canadian. I don't know, I wasn't from the royals. Her husband.
Yeah, I think he was prince. I think he was a prince. Yeah, I think he was prince, you're right.
But when And the first, so we see them and we're like, oh, they're doing the queen and such. And then that door closes and they both start trash talking with that accent and the legs open.
And like, there's nothing queenly about the performance.
That was a very memorable one for me, which I think probably stemmed out of, yeah, what if the queen was really like this? Again, going back to that prince thing. What if, you know,when the door closes, she's just swearing?
Yeah, and kind of like the Ian Rubbish thing, like, what if he was a Margaret Thatcher supporter?
Like, it's like that, that unexpected, kind of that turnabout, unexpected kind of thing that I know.
It seemed like that was within Fred's type of humor, you know, that did, that reminded me of his depiction of the Queen reminded me of like, Phil Hartman's depiction of Ronald Reagan,who was like, behind the scenes, like this mastermind, fast talking, pulling the strings, and out in public, he was just more so like the doting kind of of grandfather, absent-minded.
[54:59] So that, yeah, that was. Playing the role. I really do like that whole, what if?
What if this person was like this? And it seems like a bit of a theme, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
That's a nice pull there. Yeah. With the queen for sure.
There was another one that I really loved that played up the musical side of him.
And this was when Ashton Kutcher hosted the show.
Dave Grohl makes an appearance in this sketch. It's the Crisis of Conformity sketch in season 35. So, are you familiar with this one? Oh, yes.
[55:35] Again, could be songs on the radio back in the day.
Dave Grohl makes a great prostate joke. Yes. They trashed that place.
It was amazing. It was, and you knew going into it, or you had an idea, because we know Fred, and know that, you know, this Ian Rubbish character lives within him, that getting up toplay with the band after all these decades at his daughter's wedding, you know, while he's introducing the notion of wanting to, you know, play a lovely song for her on her big day, andthen they just start thrashing and trashing.
All right, let's do this. Madeline, my little Maddie, I'm so proud of you.
And I hope dad doesn't make too much of a fool of himself up here.
All right, it's with all my love. You guys ready? Here we go.
[56:57] I think we knew it was gonna go there, but it was still amazing to see them do it.
And legit, knock over tables, smash bottles, both Kenan and I think- Bobby Moynihan.
Bobby both get a tray full of drinks kicked in the air.
It was fun. Fred dives into a cake. He does dive into a cake.
That was like the most physical I've seen, I can remember seeing Fred like in a sketch.
He's not, Chevy Chase, he's not like as far as the physical comedy goes and pratfalls and stuff.
But that was the one time where Fred just like dove into that wedding cake at the end, like embracing the punk spirit. The song that they were performing is called Fist Fight in the ParkingLot, I believe.
Just perfect. I guess my mind's all messed up, but isn't that a result of going to your schools, being a part of your system and following your orders?
No, maybe I should have put on my suit and my tie. We need a happy meal.
[57:59] And a white chicken feast. I have a better idea.
How about I kick the windows in with my boots. You hear that Alexander Hayes?
Get all that heavy. There's gonna be a... One, two, three, four.
Fist bump. Fist bump. What's funny is all the other characters, like, I couldn't decide, and they kept cutting to, you know, I couldn't decide and they kept cutting to the bride and she lookedshocked a little bit, but at the end she was smiling, which I think was nicer, right? Which was, oh, that's my dad.
It would have been obvious if everyone was pissed. Like Nassim Pedrad played the mom of the bride and she was pissed at the beginning, but at the end she stood up and like clappedAnd Sudeikis was into it the whole time as the dad.
[58:47] I couldn't tell, obviously Dave Grohl was playing. Yeah, he was playing live, right? He was playing the drums. He was playing live.
Bill Hader, I feel like he was maybe playing bass, but I don't think Ashton was playing guitar, so I was wondering how they did it. I'm sure someone can comment.
Yeah, I would like to, maybe I'll try to get a hold of Fred and ask him.
[59:07] Oh yeah, okay, yeah, please. Or text Ashton, be like, remember that time?
Yeah, exactly. It's the one question I want to ask you. Exactly.
Since I have your attention now. Out of all of the things, here we go.
Yeah, so yeah, that was just brought out. That's just Fred's like punk spirit, his love of music.
He has a whole, like I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and I looked at, I saw, I watched Fred. He has these jokes, like music jokes.
So he's like a music jokes that, but only like that drummers would understand.
Right. Or he'll do impressions. Very niche audience. Very niche audience.
He'll do impressions of different punk styles from like the different eras of punk and those are just great like music like Fred can't keep his music bone separate a lot of times from hiscomedic bone like a lot of times they're one in the same I love that yeah and validating what a study that is to find the nuances if you've watched his he has a special and he goes throughaccents of almost every state.
And it's actually a great peek into his brain as you watch him dissect the differences with intonation and and such and.
[1:00:25] Little look under the hood as to how he starts to break those things down and how he observes music like how he just Like so acutely observed like the how 70s punk The littlenuances and then he can go into like the new wave punk and those nuances.
That's how he observes people, too Yeah, it just seems like he views the world very acutely and observational and And that's an introvert's trait, and that's a trait that I have, maybe not tothat creative extent, absolutely not to that creative extent of Fred Harmesan, but that's something that I could relate to with Fred is just kind of like studying people and studyingmannerisms and studying just like, just kind of little things like that.
That's something that I always appreciate about Fred Harmazan.
He's speaking of like language and really diving into a moment that it seems so random. Do you remember Norwegian Actors Playhouse?
[1:01:27] I don't. This is 2009. It is Ryan Reynolds as host.
It is Fred and Bill, of course, and they are playing investigators in the typical interrogation room.
They're Norwegian actors and they have tried to, they're not using subtitles.
So they've learned, almost phonetically, the English. You think I don't know what it's like?
I grew up in the streets of Times Square, man.
[1:01:59] We all had to mug each other. Everywhere we looked was pollution.
But I became a tough cop with a cigar on.
And they're trying to sound American. Again, it's an entire sketch and it's amazing. It's watching a group of people, That the premise being they they don't speak English, but this is whatAmericans sound like, okay Do a rewatch on this Norwegian actors Playhouse, okay And that that seems to fall in line with like Fred being able to observe Mm-hmm how people behaveand mannerisms and things like that. That's that's right.
Yeah Yeah Do you have anything else like SNL related as far as as far as anything that stood out that?
That people would be mad at us for not bringing up? I have two.
I have one that no one will necessarily care that I brought up because it's super random. Well, not no one, but a few people.
It's the Tommy Palmese One Man Show. Okay, I do remember this one.
Tommy Palmese in half Jewish, half Italian, completely neurotic.
Hey, God. It's me. Little Tommy Palmese from 81st Street.
If I'm half Jewish and half Catholic, where do I go when I die?
By the time I was 15, I knew three things to be true.
Number one, Christie Brinkley was never gonna go out with me.
[1:03:26] Tommy Palmese tells his life story through characters in a show that can only be described as four hours.
Again, it's such a specific person or character that he's depicting.
Someone who thinks that an entire Broadway show was worth being told about their life, and it's so mundane.
I remember one of the fake taglines is, in a show that can only be described as four hours, just nails the kind of narcissistic egoism of that type of person.
So that's my random shout out.
But there's one that is a rare gem, and it's hard to find, defined and that would be frondi.
Frondy from season 29. He was still a featured player at this point and it's going all the way back to 2004.
And at first when I re-watched, I thought, oh, is this in poor taste?
But it's, there's a, there's an intelligence to it.
And the fact that everyone, all these people in Hollywood think this movie, all these people bet millions.
And it really, you know, sometimes it's just the It's the average person who's like, really, that's how that, that's how Hollywood works?
Yeah. And it's taking the piss out of the G, Gigli? I don't even know how to say it. I think it's Gigli. Gigli. I think the G silent. That's part of the point too. But yeah, yeah, exactly.
[1:04:51] So I guess as somebody who's read Gigli's Wikipedia page, I can tell you that there's a scene, like the part of the plot revolves around somebody with an intellectual disability whoI think, Yeah, and so I think there's a scene where Ben Affleck's character goes and talks to them at wherever they're staying and In this sketch Fred plays a background actor with anintellectual disability But it turns out that he's the most wise person in the whole sketch He's he's telling Ben Affleck that that the movie's not gonna do well, and he has specific reasonsWhy the movie's not gonna do well Ben!
Ben! I'm out of here. I'm out of here.
[1:05:35] I don't think this movie's gonna work. What? Well, the script has a lot of holes in it.
That's not a very nice thing to say, Frodo.
[1:05:53] Yeah, and it's got logic problems, and it's too talky.
[1:06:00] Well, that's your opinion. I could tell Fred's doing this out of love too.
He's not like the joke isn't like laugh at this person That's making fun.
It's taking the piss out of Ben Affleck in his movie And the fact that hollywood spent a bajillion dollars around the benefer, you know institution right and that Everyone thought this wasthe horse to bet on, So I have not seen that movie.
Are you sure that you didn't read the wikipedia? You didn't see the movie?
I read the Wikipedia. I haven't seen and I would like I would tell you because I watched from Justin to Kelly Because I heard that it was bad So I wanted my friends and I one night justwanted to watch like the worst movie ever made and so we decided to watch From Justin to Kelly, but Geely would have been on that list, too We should watch it.
Um, I have not seen it and nor have I read the wiki So I did not know that there was a character and they were taking a scene from that movie But the premise still worked for me. It's justhow I think Fred portrays sensitive material and sensitive characters like that.
[1:07:05] Also, you know, the second joke in there was that that's a background extra for sure.
Just can't not interrupt the scene and can't figure out what's happening.
So just keeps staring at the camera right down the lens and talking to the actors.
That was a great reference. That was Frondie. That was season 29. been Ben Affleck.
Hosted. So after SNL, Fred, quite successful.
[1:07:31] His main his main projects were Portlandia, which I'm sure both you and I just love Portlandia.
You carry Brownstein. Wonderful. 2011 through 2018. Big Mouth.
[1:07:44] He's Fred's been on 51 episodes of Big Mouth, which is hilarious, inappropriate Cartoon on Netflix, Documentary Now, which we've talked about earlier, also The Band Leader onLate Night with Seth Meyers.
And he's popped up, Kirsten, in so many things. Like everything funny, it seems like Fred's made a guest appearance in. Yes. Always a delightful surprise when a character he's playingshows up on screen.
Yeah, yeah. So he's appeared, I mean, when he was on SNL, he appeared on Parks and Recreation and crushed it.
[1:08:20] Like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Modern Family, New Girl, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the new season of Kids in the Hall, Fred made an appearance in that, Barry, he just randomly showedup in one scene in Barry this past season.
How about Last Man on Earth when he was a cannibal?
Last Man on Earth, yes, yeah, I just kind of, I think I'm on at the end of season three in Last Man on Earth.
Did I just ruin something for you? I have seen Fred's, I have seen his appearance, yeah, I have seen his scene in that. Spoiler alert. No, I knew Fred was in it, I checked that out.
But yeah, no, Fred just pops up in everything.
It's always a delight. Yep. All right, so Kirsten, give me a pitch, the final pitch, sum it up for why you think Fred Armisen should be considered for the SNL Hall of Fame.
Well, if everything we've said has not convinced someone, I would be surprised, but I will summarize.
[1:09:20] Fred Armisen absolutely deserves to be and should be in the Hall of Fame for a few very key reasons.
Number one is the dedication to craft.
It is evident in the depth that he brings to the characters and the performances, whether it's mimicking accents or embodying those really distinct mannerisms and finding this wide rangeand diverse range of personalities and archetypes to pull from.
[1:09:54] This commitment that you've heard us talk about really shows off his acting prowess, but his genuine passion for just making each character really memorable and authentic.
So dedication to craft, number one. Number two, I think, is his love of offbeat characters.
So I think it's really a signature approach of his to portray kind of eccentric people and take ordinary situations and turn them into real comedic gold by...
Uncovering these idiosyncratic, oh my gosh, traits and behaviors. There we go.
And they, whether they have those distinct accents and kind of worldviews, you know, just through his performance and through his observation, he's bringing those things to life.
It's, it's injected still with like a, some satire and some social commentary that really make it a broader and, and more evergreen style of comedy you enjoy.
All of this stuff that we're referencing is from from the early 2000s.
And I would say, correct me if I'm wrong, it was really all done in good taste.
You talked about that era of really poor taste comedy.
And he doesn't have too much to be embarrassed about, which is impressive.
[1:11:12] Deadpan delivery, a real cornerstone of his. You know, a knack for delivering lines and reacting to things with a straight face.
We've talked about some pretty absurd and ridiculous situations, but his ability to kind of juxtapose this real serious demeanor and this comedic content is a really interesting comedictension that I think enhances the humor.
And then lastly, it's, you know, how multi-talented do you have to be?
You know, you're an actor, you're a comedian, you're a writer, you're a musician, you're a performer, you're a performer. And I think that all of these reasons, really, for me, make itpainfully obvious that he absolutely needs to be in this Hall of Fame.
He can't not make it, or I don't know what I'll do.
I'll stage a protest. There you go.
Track 2:
[1:12:21] Thank you so much, Kirsten and Thomas, what a conversation, what a performer, what an SNL cast member, Fred Armisen.
Yeah, I can get behind this, I can totally get behind this. Great job, Kirsten.
Let's go right to the nitty gritty here. You don't have to listen to me talk uh, any longer, we're going to go to, uh, an update piece, uh, a tremendous update piece by Mr.
Armisen and, uh, it is one of his, one of his characters.
I don't know if this character is divisive or if it's somebody that's, that it's a grower, because for me it was a grower, but if you had asked me the first couple of times I listened, I wouldhave said, no, I didn't, I didn't I didn't, or watched rather, I didn't necessarily love it. Like it was too loose.
And in fact, Thomas points out that the bits were often improvised.
And that just shows such a commitment to this character. And for Lauren to let somebody on a written show go up and do something off page which is a pretty big deal.
So this is Nicholas Fain. This is from Weekend Update, of course, on SNL.
Check it out. Nicholas Fain.
Track 5:
[1:13:50] Here now with his own satiric take on the week's top stories, political comedian Nicholas Fain. Hi. Thank you. Wow.
Thank you so much. For those of you who aren't familiar with my work, what I do is I read headlines from today's newspapers and I provide my own sort of skewed view just off the topof my head.
So let's get to it.
All right so oh this is great. Oh I love this. I was laughing so hard.
This is from the Wall Street Journal and labor market gains traction. There's no way!
Oh, oh, this is classic. The Washington Post, this was great, right on the front page, federal workers' pay could bump up 0.5 percent.
[1:15:04] I thought of you guys. I was on my way here and you're going to love this or hate it.
New York Times, the great New York Times, tweak and rule to ease a path to green card.
Now, this is exactly the moment that we, and if I were to take a poll, and I don't mean any poll, I don't mean the kind of poll, I mean, I would never be the first person, I don't think anyone,as long as any poll taker, if I were to take, I had met an infant, and super nice, and even if every citizen Every citizen decided to, you know, spray paint Charlie Chaplin's name on everyhigh school.
Or do a caricature or... However tactile...
There's not... I... Listen, I would be the first. I would be the second.
I don't think... I don't think in any line of people... Look, society, before we even launch into that...
[1:16:15] Absolutely, across the board. Petroleum... All right, you know what it looks like. I am worried, here's what I'm worried about, that this isn't going anywhere.
That's what I'm worried about. I mean, I don't know what I have to bring.
[1:16:27] The problem with you, and I love you, and I know you. Oh, someone saw you.
Somebody saw, I forgot who saw, but someone saw you recently. Mark. All right.
The problem with you, and I don't mean anything personal, with your personality, and I love you, and this is not a criticism by any means.
This is not even a statement. It's not even, it doesn't even, we'll never come across as anything, hold on, hang on, sarcastic or ironic or even any kind of statement against you, even in thelightest part of day.
You, Seth, and we all agree, and we all agree.
I know we all agree on that. The problem with, hear me out, with your personality in any situation, in any given situation, and as great as you are, except I salute you and bow down, I willdetail your car.
And no matter how much and how pleasant and how much you try, and I know that you try, and I know that you do your very best, and we see even behind that, that you think before anyof that even comes to fruition. And I'm not. Listen, man.
There's no way, if you sat with me, anywhere. All right, enough.
Nicholas Fane, everybody.
Track 2:
[1:17:47] That was great. That was just great.
I relate to Nicholas Fane. Sometimes when I'm recording these interstitials, I just tend to go off on a tangent and end up editing things way down.
Who knows? Maybe I should be keeping it in.
I don't know. But a great character, and a great performer, a fantastic cast member, and now a nominee for the SNL Hall of Fame.
When voting opens in the middle of December, you will have a chance to enshrine him for perpetuity into the hall, and that's very exciting.
On behalf of Matt Ardill and Thomas Senna, I want to thank our guest, Kirsten Turnbull, once again for joining us and delighting us.
[1:18:39] It's just been fantastic. So with that, I ask you a favor.
As you're walking out, as you walk past the Weekend Update exhibit, there's a light switch on the wall.
Turn it off, because the SNL Hall of Fame is now closed.
